To read more of Alex’s work, check out his blog http://awkward-sandwich.blogspot.com/.
Author Archives: jmarkowski
This Hawthorn ‘Winter King’ was only planted this spring and I already love its amazing shape and silhouette. May it survive our brutal winter winds:
And last but not least, the Lady’s Mantle (Alchemilla) still keeps on keeping on and still remains one of my absolute faves in or out of bloom:
Feel free to criticize Alex all you want in the Comments.
John
Speaking of boxwoods, the Japanese boxwoods have turned their usual yellow/orange as the temps drop and now is their time to shine as everything else dies around them:
The basal foliage (foliage that hangs low to the ground under the stems) on many of the perennials have maintained their color and only now, truly stand out amongst the carnage. I’ll take it:
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| Achillea ‘Moonwalker’ |
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| Penstemon ‘Husker Red’ |
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| Physostegia ‘Summer Snow’ |
The seed heads on the Mountain Mint (Pycnanthemum incanum) look fantastic and maybe, just maybe, I’ll finally harvest the seeds:
This is a mystery Heuchera that has held it’s color better than any other I currently own. Any idea of the cultivar? Need more, stat:
I went on an Arborvitae shopping spree two years ago and while they have been a bit slow to establish, the varying colors displayed throughout the seasons have been impressive:
My apologies if I’ve bored you to death but when you’ve got the “plant obsession” you can find interest any time of the year.
John
“On the second day of Christmas my true love gave to me, two sets of cojones so I could shoot the deer on my property”:
“On the third day of Christmas my true love gave to me, more shrubs with three seasons of interest”
“On the fourth day of Christmas my true love gave to me, four lessons on how to take photos of interesting birds”:
“On the fifth day of Christmas my true love gave to me, fiiiiiiiive … golden … foliaged …. conifers“:
“On the sixth day of Christmas my true love gave to me, six more ornamental grasses with vertical interest”:
“On the seventh day of Christmas my true love gave to me, seven more days in the week so I can remove all of the lawn from my property”:
“On the eighth day of Christmas my true love gave to me, eight shots of performance enhancing drugs so I can keep up with my mammoth weeds”:
“On the ninth day of Christmas my true love gave to me, nine reminders to stake my larger perennials”:
“On the tenth day of Christmas my true love gave to me, ten extended days of peony bloom time”:
“On the eleventh day of Christmas my true love gave to me, eleven kick ass native plants“:
“On the twelfth day of Christmas my true love gave to me, twelve months of summer”:
It’s been a while since I’ve posted one of my “xxx days to go” posts but I’m back thinking big picture. As a refresher, I made a vow about two months ago to do some big things with my gardens over the next year and a half. You can read about it here. I want to “go big” and see if I’m capable of matching my lofty expectations. The fun will be in the journey and I will document it all here.
Today, while looking back at all of the photos I’ve taken this past year, one plant in particular stood out. It reminded me that I really want to move in a new direction with my garden design. It also reminded me that I’m dumb because many of you have voiced your opinion many times over about how important this “type” of plant is when building up your garden beds.
I am not a big annual guy. Never have been. I enjoy planting and nurturing perennials knowing they will give me pleasure for years to come. I also enjoy the process of watching small plugs mature right in front of my eyes. I’ve always thought of annuals as the cheap way to create a garden. I’ve seen too many people load up on impatiens or pansies in the spring and act all proud of their accomplishment. Sure the flowers look great, but where is the soul of the planting? Don’t you want to evolve along with your plants? I realize most of these individuals are not “real” plant lovers, so I shouldn’t criticize. But I do and will for the foreseeable future.
What I’m missing out on of course, are those fantastic annuals that are unique, carefree, loaded with color and character and most importantly, if used correctly, fantastic space fillers. This is a plant genre I’ve ignored for too long and it needs to be added to my repertoire.
Oh yeah … the plant I referenced earlier that grabbed my attention … it was Coleus ‘Alabama Sunset’. I bought a few of these on a whim in early spring, stuck them in some containers and quickly moved on. Well they kicked some major booty!
Here is one the day I planted it:
And then a few months later:
And finally, a few weeks ago before our first frost:
Talk about consistent color in a partially shaded spot. I did nothing to them other than supplemental watering when they wilted a bit. Why am I not adding plants of this ilk throughout the yard? Probably, as I mentioned previously, because I am dumb.
When all of the spring catalogs start piling up over the next few months, I will be paying special attention to the annual selections. I’ve grown them from seed in containers, but why not try them in the ground this time? It’s a small financial investment for a potentially sweet return.
John
As is always the case, the kids could not agree on a tree so we had to threaten them in order to come to a mutual decision. Threats carry a lot of weight this time of year with Santa’s arrival on the horizon and I make sure to take full advantage of that. That is called leverage or good parenting.
We finally identified our tree and were ready to take her home:
And guess who kicked some major booty and cut her down?:
Hours later the tree was defeated and victory was mine (Note how over the whole thing my daughter is):
Beautiful tree with needles like knives. Guess who forgot gloves and still has bloodied fingers? This tough guy, who is hiding it well as this photo was taken:
The tree was stuffed in the car and we headed out to lunch down on the Delaware River. It was an exceptionally warm and sunny day and a great time to be outside:
This year, we hit up the Frenchtown Cafe, a local favorite. This place is always on the money. Click on the photo below and you can read all of the positive reviews that have been posted. Lines wind out the door on weekend mornings but it is worth the wait:
Did it all end there? Hell no. That night, we made it out to the town tree lighting and even brought our ageless 12 year old dog, Casey, who I’m pretty sure made at least 50 people smile. She has that way about her:
Santa arrived dramatically via firetruck and my son reluctantly posed with him after making sure none of his classmates were around. My daughter, on the other hand, ate it all up:
It was the perfect weekend that felt like it was right out of a Lifetime movie … without the murder or sordid affairs. Good times indeed:
John


































































